Browns

Browns See Trent Richardson As A Featured RB

May 10, 2012

There was a lot discussion leading up to the draft as to whether or not it’s worth taking a running back in the first-round, let alone the top-10, but the Cleveland Browns are obviously not buying into that idea after selecting Alabama RB Trent Richardson at No. 3 overall.

Browns GM Tom Heckert confirmed that Richardson will be leaned on heavily next season.

“I think it’s pretty safe to say we draft a guy third overall, he’s going to be the guy,” said Heckert, via Profootballtalk. “… We thought he was such a special player, we thought it outweighed any, you know, hesitations about whether the running backs, how long they last, and all that stuff. He scores a lot of touchdowns. We think he’s going to score a lot of touchdowns for us.”

Cleveland’s backfield is a lackluster group aside from Richardson. Montario Hardesty and Brandon Jackson figure to be used as third-down backs from time to time, mainly in relief of Richardson. As long as he’s able to pick up the team’s offense during training camp, Richardson figures to be their workhorse for the foreseeable future.